Healthy Cookie Secrets!

Yep, you read it... healthy cookies. Oh yeah, I went there! I recommend you read this with a bit 'o optimism... I promise you'll be surprised!

These are very tasty and will hit your sweet tooth on the head without spoiling your whole day of healthy eating. What's better yet, is that when I put this recipe together, I did it with the intention of making it kid-friendly.

You know how sometimes kids demand something they shouldn't have? They are certain that living off Nilla Wafers and Oreos is totally doable and that they aren't going to be happy until you allow them to fulfill their dreams of a cookie-only diet. They pull your hair, hold their breath, tell people in the grocery store that they don't actually know you, and leave you wishing they were still young enough to take a pacifier.

Well... hopefully the recipe I am providing you with will help maintain your sanity and keep your little tikes healthy (but lets keep the fact that these are healthy cookies between just you and me).

So basically my goal was to disguise these little miracles as cookies while keeping the fat and calories down, yet including some healthful nutritional aspects (such as potassium, whole grains, protein, thiamin, and magnesium) ...so you're not left with an "empty calorie" snack.

Healthy Cookie Secrets

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (unsalted and at room temperature)

1/2 cup honey

1 egg

1 cup mashed super-ripe banana or applesauce (or you may opt to use 1/2 cup of each - keep in mind that the cookies will be fluffier with banana and denser with applesauce)

1 cup rolled oats

1-1/2 cups multi-grain flour (or whole-wheat, but multi-grain is arguably healthier)

1/4 cup oat bran (or wheat germ, flax seed, or a mix of the three)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)

*I also mixed in sliced/toasted almonds, raisins and craisins - all combined to equal 1 cup. Feel free to play around with this part though... if you are in need of a small chocolate fix, add a small handful of chocolate chips, at least these will calm that craving before you attack the carton if ice cream in the freezer, right?

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 and grease 2 cookie sheets.

2. Cream butter and honey together, add egg. Mix in banana (and/or applesauce) and oats.

3. Combine remaining dry ingredients in separate bowl. Mix dry ingredients into butter/honey mixture. Hand stir nuts, dried fruit, etc. into batter.

4. Drop by spoonful onto prepared cookie sheets and bake for 12 minutes in preheated oven.

P.S. I recommend crumbling these cookies into your yogurt for a healthy, protein-rich lunch. I love using The Greek Gods Greek Yogurt (Honey Flavor), it's seriously delicious and is filled with loads of calcium and protein.

Happy healthy snacking!

(Thank you Christina and Nora in Madison, WI for requesting a healthy cookie recipe!)